Thread: S55 vs. S65
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      12-16-2013, 06:46 PM   #71
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Quote:
Originally Posted by I am Earl View Post
Compared to E46 to E9X, a lot of the changes are "easy" upgrades. You should have watched the M3 videos made 5-6 years ago and pay close attention to the engine design. A lot of the features were "first" timers for E90. EDC, DSC, MDM, Dual Clutch Transmission, and M mode integration with iDrive (not to mention iDrive and Navigation itself).

Now let's take a look at F80. DCT? We already had one. Aside from the torque spec, I don't see any changes. I wouldn't call the 2nd/3rd gen an improvement over the 1st gen, it's merely a requirement for the new turbo engine. EDC? Yep it was there, just tuned. MDM? Yep, it was there as well, just a software tune. DSC? Yep. Am I missing anything? Yep the brakes, yeah I'll give you that the carbon ceramic brakes are cool, who is going to order them for 9.5k though? If you want to spend 10k on brakes, you can go crazy with brembo and it will be more than enough.

All the "improvements" the new car claims over the old one are "tweaks". Carbon fiber crankshaft, carbon fiber trunk, carbon fiber engine bay rod, carbon fiber this carbon fiber that. There is nothing revolutionary about the new car. When E9X came out, people's jaw dropped. Every single feature I mentioned above were never offered in any M car before not to mention any other competitor's car. Just go back to 2007 for a second and imagine the impact these features created. Fast forward to 2013, do you feel the same way? I certainly don't and many people agree (rightfully so). They had to do significant R&D on these features and invent them from scratch. Customizing an existing engine by improving the turbos is one thing, designing a brand new engine with a different bore and stroke and an entirely new spec is another. Taking an existing part and making it in carbon fiber and calling it weight reduction is also not that exciting.

So compared to those changes they released in E9X, what they are coming up with this time does feel like an "upgrade".

This time around they have really dropped the ball. The M5 was one thing and we all watched the car get bad reviews time after time, but now the M3? It feels really sad.
Not even sure where to start will all of this... Most of the things you mention above as being "ground breaking" for the E9x are software - DSC, MDM, M-mode (same thing as MDM) integrated with iDrive (not even sure what that means.) Big deal, some programming tweaks and DSC was not new at all. DCT was a new transmission but nothing particularly revolutionary in the industry, not to mention all the issues it had upon release. (Disclaimer - I actually prefer SMG) EDC - again, nothing new at all and more of a luxury feature to help soften the car compared to the E46 while still being able to dial in some stiffness when wanted. The S65 was the biggest accomplishment by far with the E9x and that was a product of the development of the S85.

As for your references to the F10 M5 reviews, how can you possibly suggest that will have any influence on or reflect in any way on reviews that will be done ~6 months from now? Are you that depressed about the new M3/4?
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